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Enjoy a slice of chocolate Butternut Squash Cake and sneak in some vegetables with your dessert. This decadent bread is packed with fiber and protein, while also being low in calories and sugar.
Quick Summary: Butternut Squash Bread
- Why Make This Recipe: This moist chocolate butternut squash bread tastes like your favorite dessert, but it only has 8 grams of sugar and is packed with veggies.
- Nutrition: 160 calories, 4 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber
- Diet: Low-calorie, Gluten-free
- Time: 10 minutes prep time, 50 minutes cook time, 1 hour cooling time
- Method: Baking
- Best for: Holiday Dessert, Make Ahead, Fall Dessert Table or Bake Sale
- Tip: Cool your bread for a full hour before slicing it so the slices don’t fall apart.
This healthy butternut squash bread is going to be your new favorite treat! It’s moist, rich, but not overly sugary. Many vegetable dessert breads have over 300 calories and 30+ grams of sugar, but this recipe is only 160 calories and 8 grams of sugar.
Each slice is also full of protein and fiber, so you can satisfy your chocolate cravings while also satiating your hunger. Take this bread to your next holiday gathering, or slice it up and store it in the freezer for an easy-to-grab sweet treat.
If you like baked butternut squash recipes, you will love my butternut squash muffins and butternut squash egg bake!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Half the Sugar of Typical Squash Breads: Most butternut squash bread recipes contain 25+ grams of sugar per slice. This bread only has 8 grams of sugar in each slice because it uses applesauce and coconut sugar as sweeteners instead of refined sugar.
- Tastes Like Chocolate Cake, Not Vegetables: Since this chocolate butternut squash bread uses cacao powder, it completely masks the flavor of the vegetables. It just tastes like a rich slice of chocolate cake.
- Mixes in One Bowl: The batter comes together in just one bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer. That means fewer dishes to clean up while you wait for dessert to be ready.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Butternut Squash: You can use fresh butternut squash puree or use canned puree for this recipe.
- Egg Whites: The egg whites act as a binder for the bread. They contain more protein and less fat than a whole egg, but can be subbed for a whole egg if needed.
- Greek Yogurt: Add a boost of protein and moisture to your bread with low-fat Greek yogurt.
- Coconut Sugar: This sugar substitute is darker and less sweet than regular sugar, so be prepared for this squash bread to taste less sweet than other recipes.
- Oat Flour: Keep this recipe gluten-free by using gluten-free oat flour. If you don’t need it to be gluten-free, you can use regular oat flour instead.
- Cacao Powder: This powder has a more bitter and intense flavor, as well as more iron and fiber, than cocoa powder. You can use cocoa powder if you don’t have cacao.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
How to Make Butternut Squash Puree
If you’re starting with a fresh butternut squash, you can easily make your own puree.
To start making homemade butternut squash puree, wash the squash and then cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and roast the squash, cut side down, in an oven preheated to 400°F for 45-60 minutes.
It’s ready when you can easily slide a fork into the squash without any resistance. Remove and let the squash cool. Then scoop the roasted insides out of the rind and blend them into a puree.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Try with Different Purees: Substitute the butternut squash puree with canned pumpkin puree to make chocolate pumpkin bread, or try my recipe for no sugar pumpkin bread. You could also use sweet potato puree, like in these sweet potato cookies, but you may need to add a little more milk to make up for the moisture difference.
- Make It Dairy-Free: Make your gluten-free butternut squash bread dairy-free by using plant-based milk, dairy-free yogurt, and dairy-free chocolate chips in your batter.
- Mix In Nuts: Give your chocolate squash bread a little crunch by mixing chopped walnuts into the batter or topping the bread with walnuts or chopped pecans.
How to Make Butternut Squash Bread
This chocolate squash bread is the perfect veggie-packed dessert or breakfast treat. Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare your bread pan by spraying it with nonstick cooking spray.
- Step 1: Combine Applesauce and Yogurt. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to combine the applesauce, Greek yogurt, and olive oil until the mixture is smooth.
- Step 2: Add Sugar and Egg Whites. Mix in the sugar, egg whites, and almond milk. Continue to combine until the mixture is fluffy.
- Step 3: Mix in Butternut Squash. Add the butternut squash, almond extract, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cacao powder, and stir until combined.
- Step 4: Slowly Stir In Flour. Slowly add the oat flour to the batter while mixing until all the flour is fully incorporated. Don’t overmix the batter.
- Step 5: Add Chocolate Chips. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter by hand. Set aside some chocolate chips to sprinkle over the top after it bakes.
- Step 6: Bake and Cool. Transfer the batter to the prepared bread pan and bake the loaf at 350°F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly from the center. Remove from the oven, add the extra chocolate chips to the top, and let it cool for an hour before slicing. Pair your yummy chocolate bread with a low-cal pumpkin spice latte.
Expert Tips
- Properly Measure the Flour: It’s important to properly measure your flour. Use the method of spooning flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping it directly from the bag. Scooping usually results in too much flour and dry bread.
- Cool Before Slicing: Allow the bread plenty of time to cool completely before slicing it for clean slices.
- Use the Toothpick Method: The cocoa hides whether the top of the bread has begun to brown or not, so it’s important to use the toothpick method to ensure your bread is fully cooked.
- Storage Directions: Store bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for a full week. You can also individually wrap the slices of bread and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen bread overnight in the refrigerator before eating it!
Serving Suggestions
This gluten-free butternut squash bread is an absolute delight all year round, but especially in the fall. Move over pumpkin bread, this year it’s all about the squash! Enjoy a slice with your morning coffee or as part of a balanced breakfast. It also makes the perfect treat for a cozy night in after dinner.
- Enjoy with a cup of coffee flavored with gingerbread coffee creamer for a fun fall or holiday morning treat.
- Have chocolate for breakfast, along with some protein-packed egg white bites no cheese for breakfast on the go.
- This butternut squash dessert is ideal for after a decadent fall meal, like my stuffed acorn squash.
Butternut Squash Bread Recipe FAQs
Sure! This recipe works with either canned butternut squash puree or fresh. Canned squash will save you time and has a more consistent and concentrated flavor, but fresh has a more vibrant flavor.
A medium butternut squash typically yields 2-3 cups of puree.
If your bread is dense, the most likely reason is that it was overmixed. Once you add the oat flour, mix the batter until it is just combined.
More Delicious Vegetable Dessert Recipes
If you tried this Butternut Squash Bread recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Butternut Squash Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup Butternut Squash Puree, in a can or make your own by roasting squash then blending
- 2 Egg Whites
- ½ cup Unsweetened Applesauce
- ⅓ cup Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- ½ cup Coconut Sugar, or sugar of choice
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons Almond Extract, or vanilla extract
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk, or milk of choice
- 1 ⅓ cup Oat Flour, or gluten free oat flour
- ⅔ cup Cacao Powder, or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ cup Mini Chocolate Chips, use dairy free if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350 F. Prepare a loaf pan by spraying with nonstick cooking spray.
- Using a standing mixer or bowl for hand mixer, add applesauce, Greek yogurt and oive oil mix to combine smooth.
- Continue to combine, then mix in sugar, egg whites and almond milk mix until fluffy.
- Add butternut squash, almond extract, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix to combine.
- Slowly add the oat flour to the batter while continuing to mix. Do not over mix.
- Add mini chips to the batter and fold in by hand reserving a few chips to sprinkle on top when finished. Transfer batter to prepared bread pan.
- Bake at 350 F 45-50 minutes until a toothpick can be removed clean from the center.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan 1 hour before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Avoid dry butternut squash bread by properly measuring out the oat flour by spooning it into the measuring cup instead of scooping it.
- Let the bread cook for a full hour before slicing it so it doesn’t crumble and fall apart.
- The dark color of the cacao powder hides the browning of the bread, so be sure to use the toothpick method to check the doneness.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks so good! What a great way to sneak some nutrients in for the kids with a healthy snack!
I found this recipe while searching for ways to use up cooked butternut squash. So glad I did! For anyone curious, the recipe worked fine with all-purpose flour. It took almost an hour and a half to fully bake in my oven; I blame the ceramic loaf pan I used, as the oven temp was truly at 350. It came out a little dry as a result, but still delicious! The squash and Greek yogurt add a nice feel of “substance” (if that makes sense) to the bread without adding a ton of fat. The flavor is delicious! Thank you for posting this 🙂
Hi Megan this looks so-o – delicious!! I am wondering could I exchange the oat flour for something else as I don’t have any here in the house. Would Spelt flour work or almond flour????
I also have to watch my carbs as my body is holding onto the carbs for grim death & I can’t get into my clothes!!!
What’s your thoughts on trying the almond flour? I wouldn’t want to try it if the chances are it wouldn’t work.
Also HOW DO YOU MAKE THIS and not eat it all yourself?? I m not sure I won’t eat it all myself !!!!
Hi Marie! I haven’t tried swapping the oat flour. I suspect almond flour would work, but you may need to use a lesser amount as it is usually more dense than oat flour. Let me know if you swap it out and if it works. I’ll update the recipe card to help others! As for eating…I really don’t have sugar cravings because I follow the nutrition from my 14 day sugar challenge. It balances my hormones and keeps my blood sugar stable so when I do eat sugary foods like this bread I’m not constantly craving more. Hope you join the next challenge!
I’m not sure I understand the nutritional breakdown per slice listed. Surely the 1/4 cup of coconut oil contains some fat that would be present? Likewise doesn’t butternut squash have carbs? Am I missing something or is this truly the holy grail of awesome.
Hi Loralie, this was an old recipe card that only had calories per serving allowed to show on it that is why the nutritional data was not present. I updated it now. But just so you are aware – not all websites provide nutritional breakdown of recipes so it should not be an expectation of yours that it is always present. I do it as a courtesy for my readers, but there are some recipes on my site that only have calories because they are on old recipe cards. If you ever see a recipe that is missing nutrition data, you can always calculate it yourself using MyFitnessPal. Your comment was unnecessarily rude. I hope the rest of your day is more positive.
Just made this bread and it is too salty 🙁 I think I will add just a pinch of salt next time instead of a whole tsp. The texture is great though.
All my recipes are low sodium. This was supposed to have 1/4 tsp salt. I just updated the recipe. Glad you like it! It’s one of my favorites.
Do you think that any kind of squash would work in this recipe? Or maybe pumpkin or sweet potatoe?
Yes! I definitely think either of those will work. I haven’t tried, but I’ve swapped them before in recipes myself so you should be fine.
Wow this sounds really good! That would be yummy to put butternut squash in bread!
It is to die for!
I can definitely relate to the questions and uncertainty — I had a tonne of them as well when I swapped career paths… and they were definitely a lot more prevalent during times where I was overworked or stressed. I think you’re right about it just taking time to find your new normal and make some tweaks to figure out what works. Just remember that you’re definitely not alone in all this!
You’re probably right that I’m overworked. I’ve been working a lot lately without any breaks. Now I’m probably starting to teach fitness too. It’s a lot of change to absorb at one time along with school and designing a new career. Thanks for reminding me I’m not alone!
My entire life right now is walking around questioning wtf I did leaving my job and if this is going to work out and OMG I don’t know enough and how do I get clients to OMGOMGOMG. SOOO baking yes hello 😉 I’m always here to chat with and freak out with, because us ladies bosses have to stick together!!
I’m relieved someone else feels as freaked as I do!
I often wish I had a clone so I totally understand where you are coming from! But – inspite of how full your plate is, you managed to come up with this genius loaf or pure decadence! Love that your used Butternut Squash puree in this absolutely delightful bread.
Haha thanks! I can always count on my sweet tooth for kitchen inspiration.